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Different species of owls produce different sounds; this distribution of calls aids owls in finding mates or announcing their presence to potential competitors, and also aids ornithologists and birders in locating these birds and distinguishing species. As noted above, their facial discs help owls to funnel the sound of prey to their ears.
The 20 species of genera Tyto and Phodilus, the barn owls, are in family Tytonidae. The other 234 species are in family Strigidae, the "typical owls". Five species on the list are extinct; they are marked (X). [1] For a partial list with additional information, see the article "List of Strigiformes by population".
Barn owls overall are darker on the back than the front, usually an orange-brown colour, the front being a paler version of the back or mottled, although considerable variation is seen even within species. Bay owls closely resemble the Tyto owls, but have a divided facial disc, ear tufts, and tend to be smaller.
Subspecies differences are mainly in color and size and generally follow Gloger's and Bergmann's rules: [15] The most conservative treatments of great horned owl subspecies may describe as few as 10, [12] although an intermediate number is typical in most writings. [15] Fifteen subspecies are currently recognised: [11]
Unlike diurnal birds of prey, owls normally have only one fovea, and that is poorly developed except in daytime hunters such as the short-eared owl. [14] Hearing is important for a nocturnal bird of prey, and as with other owls, the tawny owl's two ear openings differ in structure and are asymmetrically placed to improve directional hearing. A ...
However, even the most pale great horned and Eurasian eagle-owls are still considerably more heavily marked with darker base colors than snowy owls (the whitest eagle-owls are paler than the whitest great horned owls), possess much larger and more conspicuous ear tufts and lack the bicolored appearance of the darkest snowy owls. While the great ...
Cross sectioned great grey owl specimen showing the extent of the body plumage, Zoological Museum, Copenhagen Skeleton of a Strigidae owl. While typical owls (hereafter referred to simply as owls) vary greatly in size, with the smallest species, the elf owl, being a hundredth the size of the largest, the Eurasian eagle-owl and Blakiston's fish owl, owls generally share an extremely similar ...
The whole family Tytonidae, though this also includes the bay owls in the genus Phodilus Tyto , the largest genus of birds in Tytonidae, and particularly these species in that genus: Three species that are sometimes considered to be a single species known as barn owl or common barn owl :